Someday, somewhere
by JosieCarter
Summary: They were never so good at staying apart
1. Ch1

**Hello my lovelies, I am unfortunately turning this into a one shot until further notice. Also a little bit of context. This is basically set during 3b, A's been caught and Ezria are broken up**

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**Someday, somewhere**

The four girls sat in the living room of the Hastings manor, all but three of them were being comforted by their respective others. Their parents were discussing what had happened that night; it had been almost five hours since the events had taken place.

Wilden, Wren and Cece had all been taken into questioning, Veronica Hastings assured all the girls that they wouldn't get off without a sentence and she would make sure of it alongside her husband.

Aria was seated on the single chair, she watched as her parents talk to the parents of her friends and then she looked at her friends. They were all seated by side their boyfriends and girlfriend, respectively.

She couldn't but smile at the sight of that but at the same time, she felt her heart ache knowing that she didn't have someone to do that, well she did but he wasn't here, she didn't want him here at the time like this.

After all her and Jake had been only dating for a month, and he wasn't who she wanted here.

_Ezra_

Hers and Ezra's relationship was complicated to say the least, they had gone through so much together; Simone, Jackie, her parents. They had stayed together throughout all of that but what ended up breaking the two of them up was surprisingly enough, Malcolm.

Maggie, unsurprisingly enough was involved, she accused Aria of being careless with Malcolm claiming that she was the reason he had fallen off the bed resulting in him needing stitches.

Ezra had attempted to defend her but to no avail, Maggie had left him to ultimatum; Leave Aria or never see son again. It was a hard decision for him, he loved Aria but Malcolm was his son.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to make the decision since someone sent him a picture of Aria kissing his brother or as she claimed it was the other way around.

They fought endlessly, words were exchanged and soon enough, they had broken up. Aria left the apartment in tears and Ezra drinking the pain away.

It had been a couple of months since their break up, they hadn't talked since. Rosewood was a small town and Rosewood High was even smaller so they still saw each other, the last time she had saw him, and he was having dinner with a leggy blonde.

He ignored the daggers Aria shot him during class and continued with teaching.

"It's over" Emily said "Why is it so hard to believe?" she asked, looking at everyone but her question was directed towards the girls.

"Because we've thought it was over three times and each time, we were rudely surprised" Spencer muttered, bitterly

"But it's _really _over, this time" Hanna said, cheerfully "We're free to live our senior year to our hearts content with our boyfriends" Emily coughed "And Girlfriends" she said and Emily smiled.

Aria frowned slightly at the mention of 'Boyfriends' sadness filled her eyes, everyone had some right now and she had no one. Hanna noticed her friend's expression and mentally berated herself for her forgetfulness.

"Sorry Aria" Hanna muttered.

The door knocked and Melissa rushed over to answer it, her friends stared at her. She rolled her eyes, she was fine.

Why were they acting as if it were such a big deal? It had been three month since they broke up, she had a boyfriend and more important things had happened this night yet here they were all wide eyed and looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine, guys. Really" Aria said and as she spoke those words, she realized that the group of teenagers weren't looking at her. She turned around and her eyes widened. They were all looking at their English teacher, he was looking at her. His eyes full of worry, he was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt

Melissa rushed past him and mumbled on the way "It's for you"

"Are you okay?" His voice was etched with worry and concern "I heard on the news –," he stuttered slight "I went to the police station and they told me you went home, so I went to your house and you weren't there so I tried Hanna's and then Emily's –,"

He was interrupted by her "I'm fine" she couldn't help but smile at his rambling "Why are you here?" she asked, biting her lower lip. Spencer almost scoffed at the question; they all knew why he was here. He was here for her, for Aria.

"I needed to know that you were okay, and I didn't want to find out from the papers or your parents at the grocery store" He paused and then spoke again "You told me 'A' was gone"

"You're not the only one, man. Hanna lied to me too" Caleb muttered and yelped slightly when Hanna nudged him in the ribs.

Ella looked at Aria and eyed Ezra curiously before going on with her conversation with Pam Fields.

"I'm sorry I lied to you" She said as she walked towards him "You shouldn't have come here, my dad's going to _kill_ you"

She could have sworn she heard him chuckle, she glared at him and his smile dropped.

"Yeah, but I really needed to see you" He said softly, they both took steps closer to each other suddenly unaware of the teenagers in the room "I'm sorry for what happened when Wes came over. It wasn't your fault and I shouldn't have snapped on you like that"

Aria bit her lower lip too "I'm sorry too, I should have told you and not waited for everything to explode like it did."

"Quit apologizing and kiss already" Hanna's voice echoed throughout the entire living room, she hadn't intended to speak so loud.

All the parents stopped talking and looked their way, Byron caught Ezra's eyes. He sent him a look that sent shivers down his sign, Ezra gulped slightly as a red tint covered his cheek.

Aria glared at Hanna who quickly murmured an apology "Sorry Fitz, Aria."

Ezra looked around and realised he had said everything in front of his students; the girls were looking at him with smiles while the boys had smirks on their faces. He didn't want to know what was going through their minds,

By now Byron had left the conversation he was having with Peter Hastings, he walked over to Ezra and Aria with a disapproving look on his face

"What are you doing here? You do realise you're her teacher again, this isn't appropriate." He said, sternly.

"Dad—,"

Before Aria could say anything else, Ezra quickly spoke "Actually i'm not" He looked at Aria for a second and then back to Byron's hateful eye "I resigned from Rosewood High before the holidays started"

She looked at him, wide eyed not believing her eyes for a second "What?" she choked out "You can't possibly be leaving! Why?" shock etched her every word

"I got a job in Ne—," he looked at the audience watching his every move "I would rather talk to you alone, Byron could I?"

Byron looked at him, hesitantly and then to his wife who was watching the scene. She nodded, the other parents had left.

Veronica had probably taken them to study discussing the girl's choices regarding the case.

"Fine, make it quick. Do you understand how it looks? A week ago you were her teacher and now here you are standing in the middle of another student's house"

Ella walked over "Byron, let it be. The only one right now who is causing a scene is you" She said "Now, come on" She added, taking his hand and walking towards the study ignoring his groans.

They were now alone, well with the exception of the students sitting on the couches.

Aria didn't look at him, she didn't dare to. Goodness knew what would happen if she looked into his eyes, she turned her head and looked at the kitchen.

That was the only place they could talk, it was December so the last thing she wanted was to go out in the freezing cold and she knew her dad would throw a riot if she went to Spencer's bedroom.

"We can talk in the kitchen" She mumbled as she walked past him, he sighed and followed her. She was angry, for sure. Why wouldn't she be?

Ezra watched as Aria leaned against a counter crossing her arms across her chest, he turned his head and saw the girls alongside their partners pretend like they weren't looking.

"Aria—,"

She shook her head "Were you planning on telling me you're leaving? If the A team hadn't been discovered or did you plan on me finding out when I walked into your classroom and saw another teacher in your place?"

"Aria, I couldn't tell you. In case you have forgotten, you told me you didn't need me nor did you ever want to talk to me again" He said, the memory of her shouting at him at the stairwell after what Connor had said filled his head "I was planning on leaving you a letter"

"How romantic" She muttered, angrily "You should have told me, Ezra. I deserved to know"

"You have a boyfriend" He said, quietly.

"Yes, I do." Aria looked at him, unsure of what he was going to say.

"We broke up three months ago, you said you didn't want to see me ever again so why, why do you care? I'm leaving, isn't that what you wanted?" His voice rose ever so slightly.

"I care because I love—," she stopped herself "There was a time when I loved you, I still care about you regardless of the things I've said since that night, I've been trying to move on and blocking you out was the only way"

Ezra sighed as he took in everything she said, her voice indicated there was still a chance for them but her words didn't. She no longer loved him and that made him realise leaving was the best thing to do.

"I have to go; it's the best thing for both you and me. You've moved on and I have to too, the only way to do that is to leave. I have nothing left in this town"

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow"

She nodded, tears filling her eyes "tomorrow" she said softly "This is goodbye then, huh?" she forced a laugh

"Parting is such sorrow"

She looked at him rolling her eyes "You forgot the sweet bit, Mr Fitz" she mocked, emphasising on the 'Mr Fitz'

"I'm leaving Rosewood; I'm never going to see you again. There isn't a sweet bit in here"

And just like that, she loved him even more than she had before if that even possible.

They both looked at each other for a moment, their gaze never being broken as they looked at the other person.

She stepped closer to him and saw him lick his bottom lip nervously, she looked at his lips. They seemed so irresistible at the moment,

At the same time he also stepped closer. His hand wrapped around her waist pulling her closer, their lips were mere inches away from each other,

"You have a boyfriend" He said, realising he couldn't kiss her no matter how much he wanted to

"I have a boyfriend" she repeated, sadly. As much as she wanted to kiss him right now, she couldn't possibly do that to Jake.

"Goodbye, Ezra" Aria said, her voice breaking as je pulled her into a hug and she rested her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her petite body, they stood there together for a while.

"I have something I need to give you but I don't have it on me right now, I'll leave it with Mrs Goldstein, could you please get it from her?" He felt her nod on his chest.

"Goodbye, Aria"

And with that he left the Hasting's mansion but was stopped by the sound of Aria yelling_  
_

"Ezra, wait" She yelled, he stopped and faced her "I need to say something before you leave, I know i'm with Jake but i will always love you more than words can say and if we ever meet again, can we please give this another chance? A new start. Somewhere, someday."

He smiled "I love you, Aria. Yes, this isn't the end. There'll never be an end for us." He cupped her face and kissed her passionately not caring about right or wrong. All he knew was that he would never stop loving her and somewhere, someday there was going to another chance for them.

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**So i hope you enjoyed it, and one day i'll try to continue it:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**You guys have convinced me to write on so here you go!;)**

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Her surroundings grew darker and she grew weaker,  
the sound of her heart beating echoed in her ear, louder and louder, every second.  
All of a sudden she felt a hand grab her arm and everything faded to black.

Aria woke up in fit of sweat, she sighed heavily as she leant against the headboard of her bed, it had been two whole years since that fateful night of '09 when the people who had tortured her and her friends since their Junior year was caught and charged but yet the paranoia of it happening again filled her head constantly.

She had escaped Rosewood but was unable to escape the memories, both good and bad. All four of the girls had made a deal to meet every month to avoid drifting apart as they had done during their sophomore year. The second Saturday of every month they had decided, and so the day had come.

The homework her teachers handed her during the past week was completed the second she received it, it wasn't as if she had any sort of social life. Sure she had a few friends here and there who invited her to parties but it was different, she didn't want to go to parties. She would rather stay in her dorm room and catch up on reading or call her friends, something her college friends didn't understand.

Her roommate, Kimberly was off for the weekend somewhere, Aria didn't care to ask. She was just happy that she didn't have to see the sight of her roommate screwing her boyfriend when she walked into the room.

The amount of times Aria had asked for Kimberly to let her know or even leave a sock on the door or she wouldn't be greeted by the sight of them screwing each other but to no avail.

Before she grew even lazier she dragged herself out of bed and grabbed everything she needed before heading off to the communal shower. Moments later, she stepped out and put her bathrobe on and went back to her dorm room.

She turned the television on and got ready whilst watching a rerun of last night's 'Scandal' one of her favourite shows at the moment.

A knock on the door interrupted her swooning at the sight of Olivia and Fitz kissing, she sighed before speaking.

"Kim's not here"

Aria said, loudly knowing the chances that whoever it was coming here to see her was pretty slim. The door opened, and she berated herself for forgetting to lock the door revealing Joshua McKay.

A very handsome and arrogant frat boy whom she had made the mistake of sleeping with during a drunken night, he flashed her a cocky smile

"Have dinner with me" He said, simply walking towards her, touching her arm suddenly. She suddenly was very aware of the fact that she had only robe on, she felt naked as his eyes peered over her body

Scoffing slightly she took his hand off her arm "No Joshua, I can't" She began to walk away from him and he took a seat on her bed, she rolled her eyes.

"Have dinner with me" He repeated.

Aria looked at him, shaking her head, Joshua was nothing if not insistent. It was an ongoing battle with him, one she was determined to win. He had tried to go out with her, he thought of it as a challenge and since she had made the drunken mistake of sleeping with him, he it had presumed it was the start of a relationship he had been deprived of during the last two years

"No, Joshua. I can't, I have plans—" She said and it was his turn to scoff, he rolled his eyes as she threw on oversized sweater on top of her towel covering most of her body. She let go of her t

"You haven't had plans since the first day of College, I'm sorry to say this but you, Aria Montgomery, barely have any friends at the moment which means you can't possibly have any plans. It's a Saturday night so any work you have can be postponed till tomorrow and the only people who you could be seeing for this are either your parents or the tragedy that is Fitz and Olivia."

He was right; she barely had a social life or any friends. One dinner couldn't possibly hurt, she needed to get over the past and the only way to do that was to move on.

"You're an asshole" She muttered miserably "And if it wasn't for your smile, I would be slamming my door on your face."

Smiling victoriously he asked "So is this a yes?"

"It's a maybe" Aria said and then pushed him out of her dorm room "And for your information, I do have a life and plans. I'm meeting friends today" She saidand closed the door on his face; she smiled rolling her eyes as she leant against the door.

* * *

Aria sat in the restaurant along with her friends, they all took turns at going to each other's towns, this time it was Aria's turn which she was thankful for not having to travel and being able to sleep in. she listened as Hanna spoke about Caleb absent-mindedly. Her thoughts consisted of Joshua and a certain other man who was currently absent from her life much to her disappointment.

What Joshua said was true and she knew it, most people spent their college lives partying whereas she was held up in her room waiting for her prince charming to show up again, it sounded strange that she didn't date because of the man whom she hadn't seen since High school but it was true.

It was primarily the reason why she broke up with Jake in the first place, she couldn't possibly go on with one relationship whilst wishing for another one.

Her phone buzzed and she looked down at her lap where it was seated to only see a test from the one and only Joshua McKay.

_There's this new sushi bar open on campus, how does next Friday sound?_

She rolled her eyes despite admiring him for his persistence, her friends looked at her suspiciously and before she knew it Hanna had grabbed her phone.

"Who's Joshua McKay?"

"A guy" Aria attempted nonchalance but broke when she saw the peering glances of her friends "Someone who's been trying to ask me out—ever since I made the god awful mistake of sleeping with him when I was drunk" She mumbled the last bit.

Her friends looked at her with wide eyes.

"Is he good-looking?"

"Is he smart?"

"Is he funny?"

They all took their turns at asking questions, Aria grabbed her phone from Hanna and answered all of their questions "Yes" She said simply.

"Then why are you not with him, I'm confused. He sounds great, why aren't you screwing his ass, again." Hanna asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion

Aria sighed as she looked down at her hands; it was a question why she wasn't with Joshua but because of who, the truth was she was still in love with him. She was still in love with Ezra, he had left Rosewood with her heart and she was afraid she would never get it back.

"Is it – Is it because of Ezra?" Emily asked, hesitantly. Hanna and Spencer glared at Emily as if to remind her that he was the one person Aria didn't talk about and for a good reason, they believed he had broken her heart. They weren't aware of what had happened after he left the Hastings Manor that night.

Nodding, she raised her head to see her friends looking at her "I still love him, I'm afraid that I'll never stop"

"Aria" Hanna began softly "He's gone, we don't even know where he is. He might be married—_with children_ for all we know. Ezra left you a long time ago"

"Hanna's right, Aria, you shouldn't be so fixated on a guy who left you when you needed him most, if he truly loved you, don't you think he'd stay" Spencer added, breaking Aria's heart. Out of her friends, Spencer was the one who had supported Aria's relationship with Ezra the most.

"You guys are right" Aria said, despite her heart breaking at the thought of Ezra being married or with someone, the truth was she didn't know where he was or what he was doing. After all the chances of him spontaneously showing up in her life were pretty slim much to her displeasure "But I still don't think I'm ready for a serious relationship"

"We're not asking you to marry the guy, just go out with him. Have some fun, live your life. Stop spending every moment of your life in the past"

Aria nodded, hours passed quicker than she had hoped, her friends had soon left to go to their respective colleges. She walked down the roads of New Jersey towards her dorm, the thought of Ezra filling her head despite how much she disliked the notion of moving on, the truth was she had to.

Tears filled her eyes as she thought of the fact that as much as she would have liked to have hope that she would one day be reunited with her first love, it wasn't going to happen and that thought brought tears pooling down her cheeks.

She gave herself a moment to breathe before dialling a number.

"Hello Joshua, yeah it's me – I just thought I'd let you know that I'm open to going out with you but you'll have to dial down the douche in you if you want me, also I don't eat fish. I'm vegan, bummer, I know so if you find any good vegan restaurants, let me know."

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**Hope you liked it, review and i'll post the next chapter. Five is all i ask:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for your reviews, i hope you enjoy reading this:)**

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Months had passed since Aria, hesitantly, agreed to go out with a certain Joshua McKay and she had been pleasantly surprised with where the relationship was progressing. They were both different, exact opposites but as her friends had told her several times before Opposites did attract.

Aria was even more surprised to learn that her status as _Joshua McKay's Girlfriend _led to quite a bit of attention around the campus; apparently he was one of the most desirable boys around campus. Because of this she was introduced to people and had made lots of new friends, some she wanted, and others not so much.

Her monthly visits with her friends remained intact and they were glad to know that she was finally moving and she was too. Joshua showed her how much she had missed out on hiding inside the four walls of her dorm room.

Only a couple of weeks remained until summer break and Aria honestly couldn't wait, she missed laying around watching old movies and not having deadlines and papers to write. Soon she would be—actually she didn't know where she would be. She hadn't exactly discussed it with Joshua and there was no way in hell she was staying in campus during the break.

She supposed that he would be going home, seeing his folks and catching up with old friends. Home was the last place she wanted to be, yes, she missed her parents but it was still too soon to go home to Rosewood.

"I am absolutely knackered" Kimberly as she stepped foot into the room, she threw her bag onto the desk and fell onto the bed sighing softly as she felt the pillow touch her face "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" She spoke to the pillow.

Aria giggled "You're so weird" she commented as she dragged herself out of bed and towards her desk trying to get at least some work done.

"Says the girl who wears forks for earrings" Kimberly retorted, Aria feigned a gasp as she clutched her hand to her heart.

"That hurt" She said and turned to face the blonde "Also forks are cool accessories, you should try them" Aria said, smiling.

"So what's your plan for summer break? Please don't tell me you're going to stay on campus" Kimberly asked.

"No, I'm not actually sure; I don't want to go home. I guess I'll get an internship somewhere; I'd love to get some in the city. What about you?"

"I'm spending my summer in Paris, shopping and bathing just as you should. What about Joshua? I would have thought that you would have something planned with him" The blonde asked as she threw her blanket over herself.

"It's too soon for me and Josh to go on a holiday or anything together, plus I'm guessing he's going to his folks"

"Guessing? Why don't you ask your hottie of a boyfriend?" Kimberly asked and Aria rolled her eyes but she got up and grabbed her phone as she left.

"I guess I will, I'll see ya later. Sleep well"

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Ezra sat in his desk reading and rereading the letter he had just received moments ago, his heart beating heavily with excitement. After four years of writing and writing his novel, it was finally going to published under a few conditions of course but that didn't matter.

He placed the letter on the desk before reaching for the handwritten novel he had in his first desk; his eyes peered over words he had written years back.

_Love is a losing game either it comes too quickly or comes too late, or so was the case with Hazel, I had fallen for her without fault or much thought. She was the beginning of my down fall, the reason I am the way I am. _

It was originally a piece of fiction but in the past months he knew he was deluding himself if he thought that way, this was no piece of fiction. It was based on a truth, on a past love, on a special person who he had left for her sake.

There was no way in hell he could allow this book to be published without her permission but he didn't know how to contact her, he sighed and opened his laptop doing the thing he had refused himself to do for so long.

He searched for her, for Aria Montgomery, the who had gotten away.

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"What?" Aria asked as she spoke to Hanna on the phone whilst walking towards her boyfriend's dorm "That sounds amazing, yeah we should. New York is beautiful, now I can't wait—of course I agree. I can't wait"

She hung up the phone, a smile pressed firmly on her face as she thought of spending the holidays with her friends. As she walked down towards his room, she saw boys walking in towels and rolled her eyes as they hooted at her.

Knocking the door, she was greeted by a smiling Joshua, he leant down and placed a soft kiss on her lips "Good Morning" He mumbled against her lips.

"Morning" She bit her lower lip, looking at him.

"To what do I owe this pleasure" He asked as she took a seat on his bed, she watched him as he threw a shirt over his bare chest.

"Summer break's only a couple of weeks away, Josh, and well—what the hell are we going to do? I'm assuming you're going to go your folks and I'm going to be in New York"

"Wait— since when are you going to New York?"

Smiling sheepishly she responded "It's actually a recent development, um I'm spending the summer in the city with my high school friends. Hanna, Emily and Spencer, I've told you about them." She narrowed her eyes as she tried to read his facial expression. It was one of disappointment.

"What's wrong?" She asked, nervously. His frown turned into a smirk.

"I can't believe you thought I was going to my folks, seriously. I've spent eighteen years with them, that's way too long. Even they don't want me to come home for a little while—I was actually thinking we could travel, go to Europe or something—together"

Her eyes softened at the thought of them going somewhere together, she bit her lower lip as she realised she had shattered his idea.

"Oh Joshua, I had no idea whatsoever, I'm so sorry" She said, apologetically. He smiled and leant down to kiss her once again.

"It's okay, it's not like this is our last summer together, we've got plenty to look forwards to"

Aria smiled as he spoke, the thought of him looking into the future—their future made her happy.

* * *

"Remember when I told you I was looking for _her_"

Ezra said, one afternoon a couple of days after he had made the decision of finding her, as he took a seat in the booth; Simone nodded whereas Hardy rolled his eyes. He had never been on board with the idea of Ezra searching for his ex-girlfriend; he went as far as to say it was creepy.

"Remember when I called you an idiot" Hardy said, in response. Simone nudged him and looked at Ezra curiously.

"What happened?" Simone asked, still unaware to exactly who Ezra was looking for. The man looked at her, nervously before responding.

"I found her Facebook, I sent her a request" He mumbled whilst ordering a beer, Hardy busted into a fit of laughter.

He calmed himself "Okay, so um did she accept your request?"

"I don't know. I haven't checked"

"Why don't you check and whilst you're doing that, can you please let me know who exactly this girl you're looking for is? Maybe I can help" Simone said, with a smile.

Ezra gulped nervously at the thought of Simone finding out the truth behind the mystery girl whom he had been searching for, frantically.

* * *

"So it's set"

Joshua asked whilst onto the phone with Spencer, he smiled as he heard her response. He couldn't wait to see Aria's reaction although he would have to wait a couple of weeks for that but the wait would be well worth. He couldn't wait to see her smile.

"Thank you, Spencer. Yes I promise never to hurt her. Okay bye"

Aria walked towards her boyfriend, her phone buzzed and she picked it up. Her eyes widened as she saw a notification and who it was from.

_Ezra Fitz_

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**I hope you all liked it, next update should be next Friday, fingers crossed. :) **

**xoxo Josie**


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